Government debts should be a concern to all taxpayers

Michael McDaniel presented an opinion piece on Oct. 27 about the county’s unfunded pension liabilities. Due to economic conditions, the pension program for public county employees is underfunded to the tune of about $80 million (according to McDaniel). This should be the concern of all county residents as it will likely effect county programs in upcoming years.

Joe Christoffel, the county’s CFO, then rebutted McDaniel’s assessment. He showed how the county has been acting fiscally responsible and estimated the unfunded pension liability around $40 million. This number is uncertain because we do not know how the retirement program will perform in the upcoming years.

By bringing the issue of underfunded public pension programs to the attention of the Board of Supervisors, the board has looked more closely into the issue. One

supervisor even mentioned that he has not seen that many people stay at a Board of Supervisors’ meeting for so long.

Tea Party Patriots are also involved in Sacramento and Washington, trying to persuade the government to act fiscally responsible. Massive governmental debts should be a concern to all taxpayers because we will be expected to pay the bill in the future.